By David Rogers. RALEIGH, N.C. — Tragically, for so many residents and businesses in Western North Carolina, Hurricane Helene’s broad swath of destruction last year brought new meaning to anyone’s charitable mission. In all parts of North Carolina, the damage and the lives lost became personal. We know those people. They were family members. They were friends. They were acquaintances and business colleagues. We care deeply about recovery efforts in Western North Carolina.

Last year, well before the storm, I had an opportunity to reconnect with some friends from my previous professional life in the financial services industry. Richard Bryant is the founder and chief executive officer of Capital Investment Companies (CIC), based in Raleigh, a company for which I once did stock market research. He has homes in Blowing Rock and Raleigh. Ben Brooks, now President of CIC, is an industry professional with whom I worked when I first moved to North Carolina, in 1997. He also has connections to the High Country.

Headquartered in Raleigh, but with offices and registered representatives spread all across the Southeast, including in Western Carolina, CIC got firsthand reports of the storm’s devastation. Recently, we shared observations about the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene and how CIC, as individuals and as a company, is responding.

By combining our resources with others, we hope to make a difference.

“Giving back” has been part of the CIC success story since the company’s founding in the early 80s by Bryant and his partner Bobby Edgerton, more than four decades ago. In 2025, the “Capital Cares” charitable mission that will culminate in October has special significance because two Western North Carolina agencies, High Country-based Samaritan’s Purse and Asheville-based MANNA FoodBank, will be the beneficiaries of the company’s largesse this year.

“Helping people and their businesses impacted by the storm became a personal mission for so many of us,” said Ben Brooks, CIC President. “So many people lost their lives. Even for those who survived the storm, many lost everything. Many businesses were destroyed, swept away by the winds and the flooding. If not completely lost, their operations were severely compromised. Those lost businesses were sources of people’s livelihoods, how they earned money to pay mortgages or rent, buy food — and enjoy life. There was a devastating human cost to that storm, in addition to the physical damage.”

Brooks said CIC’s ability to put boots on the ground may be limited but the company wants to provide funding for agencies providing support to those in need.

“We are going to hold our annual convention of registered representatives and financial advisers this year in Asheville, at the Grove Park Inn,” said Brooks. “Historically, we have gone to the coast but this year we are going to the mountains, to spend money in the local economy. And especially this year, a significant focus is raising money to support the recovery of people in Western North Carolina, as well as generate awareness. The recovery efforts have only just begun, really, so we want to encourage others to help. Individually, we are making a small dent in the problem of recovery from the storm. By combining our resources with others, our goal is to make a difference.”

CIC’s operations and marketing specialist, April VanNieuwland, explained that the funds raised by Capital Cares in 2025 are going to two agencies truly making a difference this year, with those boots on the ground.

“The proceeds from our charitable efforts this year will be matched by the company and distributed to the Boone-based disaster relief agency, Samaritan’s Purse, and the MANNA FoodBank, headquartered in Asheville, which is committed to ending food insecurity in Western North Carolina,” said VanNieuwland. “In advance of our annual meeting in Asheville, we have set up online links for people to direct their donations to their preferred agency, Samaritan’s Purse or MANNA. There will be a final push in October, at the meeting.”

VanNieuwland provided those links to High Country Sports and Blowing Rock News:

For Samaritan’s Purse, CLICK HERE.

For MANNA Food Bank, CLICK HERE.

Representing Samaritan’s Purse, Jeff Porter explained the importance of contributions like those coming from Capital Investment Companies.

“The gifts we receive enable us to assist people impacted by war, poverty and famine in Jesus’ name. These gifts are treasured because they enable us to help change lives and deliver hope to people who sometimes have lost everything. The community we have built through these gifts is something we treasure, also, being able to work with people partners, repeatedly, to help others,” said Porter.

“Clearly, with these Hurricane Helene recovery efforts,” added Porter, “this has been about helping our neighbors. Through the storm’s disaster relief efforts we have been able to fly 358 air missions. It is the largest civilian airlift in U.S. history. In addition, we have made 242 ground deliveries. All of this has been to 160 communities across 23 North Carolina counties. In the process, we deployed an emergency field hospital and distributed 24,666 food bags, 18,317 grocery gift cards, and established eight water access points where water infrastructure had been destroyed. More than 500,000 liters of drinking water has been produced by our water filtration systems.

By streamlining our giving to support Samaritan’s Purse and MANNA FoodBank, we can help provide shelter, food and other recovery services, directly. 

“So much of our relief and recovery efforts are driven by volunteers, and it is not just about food and water, but shelter, too,” said Porter. “We distributed more than 17,000 solar lights, more than 16,000 clothing kits, almost 14,000 blankets, and almost 8,000 heaters. Add to that, almost 4,000 generators, It was about volunteers coming forward, seeing neighbors helping neighbors. And this was happening, literally, in our own backyard. Our headquarters are based in Boone and parts of Watauga County were among the areas devastated by Helene.”

MANNA FoodBank is itself a Hurricane Helene story. The storm created a major upheaval for the agency when floodwaters demolished warehouses, food inventory, equipment and IT infrastructure. News reports suggest MANNA became the first food bank in Feeding America’s history to experience a total operational loss.

And yet, MANNA never stopped feeding the thousands of area residents already struggling with food insecurity before the storm — with many more added to that number after the storm.

In addition to those personal connections, we are dedicating our efforts this year in the memory of Marshall Culp, of Blowing Rock, who tragically died in an accident earlier this year.

“We set up emergency distribution hubs at the WNC Farmers Market so we could continue to get food to the people who needed it,” said MANNA CEO Claire Neal in a March press release. “The outpouring of community support was incredible, from volunteers to partner agencies to individual donors. Even before we had a clear picture of the long road ahead, caring people stepped in to help…”

VanNieuwland noted, “Our formally adopting Samaritan’s Purse and MANNA Food Bank as our supported relief agencies is an extension of support efforts initiated by our company immediately after the storm. We had supply drives at individual offices and we matched cash donations. Our President, Ben Brooks, knew someone who could fly our relief supplies by helicopter to the region.

“There was a good response from our team,” added VanNieuwland, “not only because we live in North Carolina but so many of us at CIC feel connected to the mountain region. We have friends and family there. We take trips there. Some of us have second homes in Western North Carolina. Given that response, paired with how we value giving back to our communities, we felt it would be great to partner with some local relief organizations. Samaritan’s Purse and MANNA came to the forefront of considerations pretty quickly.”

Brooks noted that working with an agency in the High Country, like Samaritan’s Purse, had an added appeal because CIC founder and chief executive officer Richard Bryant splits his time between residences in Raleigh and Blowing Rock.

“Like Richard (Bryant), I also have personal connections to the High Country,” said the CIC president. “For example, one of my high school classmates and longtime friends is David Barker, who has owned and managed Blowing Rock Market since 2012, so I have had a first hand account of how Hurricane Helene impacted the High Country.

“In addition to those personal connections, we are dedicating our efforts this year in the memory of Marshall Culp, of Blowing Rock, who tragically died in an accident earlier this year,” said Brooks.

Brooks explained how Capital Cares has evolved over the years.

“We’ve always had a passion for giving back to our communities,” said Brooks. “About 15 years ago, we had a program where our individual colleagues could donate to their charities of choice, and we would match them. That was wonderful and beautiful but our executive team came up with the concept called, ‘Capital Cares,’ where we would pick two or three (impactful) charities each year. They might focus, for example, on children, pets or wounded military personnel. By combining our individual resources, we have a greater impact on the agencies receiving our gifts.

“This year, we think Samaritan’s Purse and their hurricane relief efforts have not been as widely supported to the degree we would like to see. By streamlining our giving to support Samaritan’s Purse and MANNA Food Bank, we can help provide shelter, food and other recovery services, directly. We ask everyone to consider giving to these causes and then we, as a firm, will match it.

“Our business is helping investors manage portfolios, but we also want to leave Asheville with the feeling that we really do give back to the communities we serve,” Brooks added. “We don’t know how much money that is going to be at this point, not knowing what things will be like in October, economically, or what the geopolitical environment is going to be. We are just going to do the best we can and appreciate everyone’s efforts to join us in this mission.”

Capital Investment Companies is one of the largest independent financial services and brokerage firms in the Southeast, based in Raleigh, with registered representatives in 13 states, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, California, Texas, New York, Massachusetts and Ohio. Services include investment advisory, brokerage, insurance, mortgages, and other financial services.